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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27160571">A Common Cure for Hysteria</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoe_Grimm/pseuds/Zoe_Grimm'>Zoe_Grimm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rebecca (2020), Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Affairs, Age Difference, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort, Extramarital Affairs, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Smut, Vaginal Fingering</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:00:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,110</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27160571</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoe_Grimm/pseuds/Zoe_Grimm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When the new Mrs. de Winter has a breakdown over the disaster of her dress at the Manderley fancy dress ball, her sister in law Beatrice decides to calm her down in any way she can.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beatrice Lacy/Narrator (Rebecca)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Common Cure for Hysteria</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey there! So this is more or less based on the new Rebecca adaptation/ Ben Wheatley film, but the tag doesn't seem to exist yet. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Now where had that girl gotten off to,</em> Beatrice thought to herself. <em>Most likely her rooms</em>, she decided, and set out to find her. </p><p>The image of Maxim was branded into her mind, him standing there, white as a sheet. Behind her, people were whispering, even as more people arrived at the ball. But she had already left the buzz halfway behind by the time it rose. Somebody needed to look after the girl. </p><p>Reminding herself that her brother and his bride lived in the east wing now rather than the west wing, she took a turn on the stairs, knocked and then entered without waiting for an invitation. </p><p>When she strode into the rooms, she saw that the second Mrs. de Winter was not currently capable of speech, in any case. The girl had flung her wig to the side, revealing a mess of pins underneath, her painted face spilling over with the tears of a hurt and insecure youth. </p><p>"Bosh", Beatrice admonished her gently, "pull yourself together. It's not as bad as all of that". </p><p>When the lady of the house gave no reply, Beatrice strode over to her and lifted her chin with her fingertips.</p><p>"Look at me", she said, "you can cry all about it here all night, or you can change and come with me downstairs and have a good old laugh about it". </p><p>She meant to go to the wardrobe then, but all of a sudden the girl clung to her hand. </p><p>"Maxim", she said, "did you see his face?"</p><p>"He'll get over it", Beatrice stated bluntly, and then, softening, "after all, how were you to know?"</p><p>
  <em>How were you to know that this was the very same thing Rebecca wore last, and how much you would look like her all of a sudden, even though you could not be more different. </em>
</p><p>Beatrice Lacy had seldomly despised someone. But oh, she had despised Rebecca. When Rebecca seduced her husband, Beatrice had known. And she had chosen not to do anything about it, to stay as far away from the first Mrs. de Winter as possible. This second Mrs. de Winter in front of her now could never be like that. And perhaps that was why she sympathised with her right now, why she gently cupped her cheek, and brushed away the tears. </p><p>"I don't know anything", the girl said, looking at Beatrice with such a lost, desperate look, that all Beatrice could think to do was say "hush" and lean in until their lips met. </p><p>It was meant to be a brief, tender, reassuring kiss. </p><p>But the girl clung to her, and reciprocated as if she had been starved of such affections recently, and Beatrice found herself kissing her more, trying to erase the ghost that now haunted them both. </p><p>She gently cupped the girl's face, and not a thought was wasted on the fact that she must be 20 years older, or that she was kissing her brother's wife, not after what his wife had done to her husband. </p><p>And in turn the girl kissed her as if she too meant to forget everything, as if this brief respite of what had suddenly become a brutal reality could yet save her. Beatrice couldn't find it in herself to stop after that. </p><p>She would be sure to make it quick. </p><p>She guided the girl onto her back on the bed and resumed her kissing, her hands roaming over the young woman's body, and the other one gasped, as if <em>yes, she had been wondering what it would be like to lie with a woman for some time now. </em></p><p>Beatrice slowly got her out of the dress and then flung it away, murmering "there", assuring the girl, "it's not so bad now, you'll see". The second Mrs. de Winter silenced her with a kiss. She arched towards her sister in law, seemingly begging to be taken, to be made to forget. </p><p>Beatrice felt her sharp intake of breath when her right hand slipped into the lady's undergarments. She wondered, for a second, if she ought not to slow down after all, but was met with no resistance when she slipped a single finger inside. Maxim had initiated his bride, then. </p><p>Beatrice's thumb brushed a spot above the lady's entrance, and the lady herself was so eager, arching her back into Beatrice's body, her hands touching the older woman anywhere they could reach. </p><p>When the new Mrs. de Winter opened her eyes they connected, and Beatrice stared intently into the now lust filled gaze. She barely needed to hear the whispered "yes" that escaped Mrs. de Winter's lips, but it thrilled her all the same. She <em>relished </em>being the one in control, watching the effects of her administrations play out on the younger woman's face, wishing she were able to do this more often. </p><p>She added another finger to the one she already had inside of those dark, velvet depths and curled them, eliciting a moan. </p><p>"Beatrice", the lady underneath her breathed, and Beatrice hastened the pace. </p><p>"We mustn't be long", she murmured, and the lady of the house nodded, giving a little moan every now and then as she hastily approached release. Beatrice bent down and kissed her, at first on the lips and then across her neck, which was easily revealed to her. She felt a sudden desire to suck on it but stopped herself. Someone would see the mark. They had to get back to the ball and play their parts after this. Had to get back to all of it, the endless masquerade that was to be their married lives. But not just yet. </p><p>Not now, when release washed over the new Mrs. de Winter's face, bathing her in ecstasy. Not now, when Beatrice could feel her insides clench around her capable fingers, when she captured her mouth in a final, raw kiss. </p><p>When it was over they stilled, and Beatrice slowly and gently withdrew her fingers. She wiped them on the sheets and cupped the other woman's face, searching it with her gaze, making sure the girl was all right. </p><p>"Better?", she asked softly, and the other one gave a nod. </p><p>Beatrice stole a last kiss and then got up as her usual energetic self. </p><p>"Very well", she said, "now I'm sure you have something suitable to wear in here somewhere, it really doesn't matter at all what it is. Go and wash your face. I'll pick something out for you."</p><p>The girl got up and did as she was told, and Beatrice commenced her quest. This night, they had to pretend. </p><p>Some other day, she might come to visit again.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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